The impact of surgical sperm retrieval on the in vitro fertilization outcomes of infertile patients with temporary ejaculation failure on their oocyte retrieval day

Objective To evaluate the impact of testicular sperm aspiration on the clinical outcomes of IVF patients with temporary ejaculation failure (TEF) on the day of oocyte retrieval. Design A case-control study. Setting University-affiliated IVF center. Patient(s) One hundred eight infertile couples encountering TEF on the day of oocyte retrieval. Intervention(s) Testicular sperm aspiration and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (TESA-ICSI) were employed to help the TEF couples to complete their IVF treatments. A group of obstructive azoospermia (OA) patients was chosen as a control group to evaluate the efficiency and safety of this intervention. Main Outcome Measure(s) Fertilization rates, transferable embryo rates, and clinical pregnancy rates (PRs). Result(s) Through the TESA-ICSI, TEF couples achieved a 38.83% (40/103) clinical PR per IVF cycle. Compared with the OA group, the TEF group showed a comparable fertilization rate (66.43% vs. 65.25%), transferable embryo rate (60.76% vs. 60.85%), and PR (51.61% vs. 50.00%) in thawed ET cycles but a relatively low PR (25.49% vs. 44.64%) in fresh ET cycles. Conclusion(s) TESA-ICSI is a relatively efficient and safe way to help the patients encountering TEF.